Last week you heard from 9-year-old Maddy about her experiences in Tanzania.  Today, hear another perspective from Heather, a Plan staffer who travelled with Maddy and Sara to Tanzania on their recent trip.  She shares about why this trip was important, how girls in Tanzania are different from girls in Canada, what its like to work in international development and also how you can get involved.

KJ: Why was a girls’ residence important for this school?
HH: For many secondary schools throughout Africa, this one in Buhongwa included, the catchment area is quite large. This means if students wish to continue their studies beyond primary level, they must walk up to 20 km each way, every school day. Some girls choose instead to stay in a temporary home closer to the school, without a guardian, or with a family as domestic help. These options leave students, particularly girls, at risk to sexual violence and other forms of abuse. A residence for girl students, right next to their secondary school, changes all this – now girls don’t have to sacrifice their safety for an education. The residence opens a whole new world of possibilities, allowing girls the security to realize their full potential.

KJ: How are Tanzanian girls different and/or the same as girls in Canada?
HH: I really feel there are more similarities than differences. All girls have dreams and desires for a happy future; for their family’s good health and a life of opportunity. School is a common tie as well – education and protection from violence is the right of every girl, no matter where she grows up. This trip was really fun in that we had youths from Canada as well as adults. When we visited the schools and met some of the girls, there was this different kind of dynamic, of peer-to-peer sharing, that was really special.

KJ: What was your role in this project and at Plan?
HH: My role at Plan is to connect Canadians who want to help with communities which are in need of -and eager to work for- positive change. Sometimes this connection includes a visit for donors to see firsthand the tremendous difference their project donations are making. It’s incredibly inspiring to see people in Plan communities who are driving this change and are committed to improving lives, actually meeting with the Canadians whose support is enabling them to do so.

KJ: Do you have any advice for girls that are interested in a career in International Development?
HH: There are many ways your career path can lead towards international development. You could focus on a certain program element of development, for example, by studying public health or agriculture. Or you could focus on one of the many other functions that NGOs like Plan need, such as fundraising, communications or finance. Explore what’s out there! Being involved with Plan, and international development as a whole, is really rewarding – I love my job!

KJ: What is the best way for girls in Canada to get involved and do something about the issues faced by girls in developing countries?
HH: I would say a good first step would be to visit becauseiamagirl.ca. Have a look at what’s there…advocacy, events, volunteer opportunities, fundraising, etc. Talk to friends, share what you’ve learned about girls’ rights, think about what excites you and how you might be able to best help. Then, go for it! Every little bit helps and one seemingly small action can spark a wave of immense good.

Last month Plan published a 6-month update since the earthquake. Find out what’s been happening there, even if Haiti is no longer in the news:

The people of Haiti still need your help.  How to get involved:

• Click here if you’re interested in how you can help or want more information.
• Or, check out interactive videos of Port-au-Prince on PlanYouth.org.
• You can also read the stories of Marie, Jo-Ann, Madeline, Miline and girls in a Haitian camp to learn more about girl power in rebuilding Haiti.

My mother left home when she was fourteen.  She faced abuse at the hands of my father.  She raised three children as a single parent, without a high school degree, on government assistance.  She was an amazingly capable mother, and I learned from her how to think and live independently by watching her do it.  I was out of my mothers’ home at the age of fifteen.  Most people around me assumed, with the statistics to back it up, that I would never graduate high school, let alone make it to college or university.   “She’ll be living on welfare & have three kids by the time she’s twenty”.  I didn’t want to settle with the idea that the circumstances into which I was born and raised would dictate my future opportunities.  So I used others’ doubt to fuel my own belief in myself.  After leaving high school for two years, I returned, graduated on the Honour Roll, and then graduated Ryerson University four years later on the Deans’ List. 

I was unintentionally a living example of what Girls Rights’ rights are all about.

 Girls Rights are quite simply Human Rights.  Boys and girls have the same rights (such as access to education, healthcare, opportunity) but around the world girls face obstacles in accessing these basic rights simply because they are born a girl.  Plan Canada’s 3^rd annual Girl Report: “Girls in the Global Economy: Adding it All Up” offers hard stats to back this up.  The report also shows that investing in girls and young women can literally transform lives and lift entire nations out of poverty. 

 I find this point really interesting: Empower a Girl, you Empower a Community.

 It sounds so simple, and yet the feedback I get from a lot of people when I tell them I’m on a Girls Rights tour is “huh?” or “whats that tour about, some feminist, pro-woman, man-hating agenda?”.  It saddens me that some people can’t see beyond their own limited reality.  Women make up more than half the world’s population.  Empowering women, by simply allowing them to participate in decision-making, have access to basic human rights and control over their own resources, is key to reducing global poverty and instability for everyone.  When women are educated, they have better job opportunities.  Statistics show that women around the world spend 90% of their annual income on their families, in comparison to the 30-40% that men will bring home to their families.  Currently, most of the one billion people living on less than a dollar a day are women.  This one fact alone highlights the need to invest in our girls globally.  Gender inequality impacts the global economy.  And this, in turn, impacts all of us.

I have learned so much in our first week on tour in Northern Ontario. I want to write so much more!  Next week   In the meantime, check out some of our pictures from the first week on my myspace page, here:  

ETERNIA’S TOUR PHOTOS, WEEK ONE

Blessings and love,

 Eternia.

Today we met with some girls from the Britannia Secondary School in Vancouver. While at the school we were also surprised by a visit from Plan Canada’s newest spokesperson, Filipino-Canadian pop star, Elise Estrada.  Elise is very excited about being part of Plan’s Because I Am A Girl campaign and she is looking forward to spreading awareness about the plight of girls around the world.

After Elise and the girls from Britannia Secondary compared a few stories about school life and life in the spotlight, we had the chance to meet some of the Britannia Secondary girls and discover how they were playing their parts in influencing positive change.

The girls came from a variety of backgrounds, but they all had one thing in common. They wanted to change things for the better, and they were on their way to do it! Some thought on a local scale with plans to help the hungry or impoverished in their immediate communities, but some thought on a global scale with hopes of spreading happiness as a blanket cure for many of the world’s problems. They were part of a school club called Global City Club.  One of the girls in the club remarked, “In joining the global city club it feel like I am able to create change in the world, I am able to actively participate in activities that are doing something”.  The best part about this club was that not only do they themselves participate in helping to bring about positive change, but they also encourage members of their school to do the same!

Afterwards we made a brief stop on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive to shoot some footage, when I came across the most delicious samosa I have ever had!  It almost knocked me off my feet.  Commercial Drive is home to an unbelievable variety different scents, flavours, people and cultures –more streets in the world should be like Commercial Drive.  So far, Vancouver has been a bastion of healthy eating and healthy thinking.  You are what you eat, I guess.

I’m off for another samosa!

Torey